Karnataka Bandh Called for April 22: BJP and Muslim Organisations Call for State-Wide Protest Over Hubbali Murder Incident

BJP and Muslim organisations in Karnataka have given a call for a ‘bandh’ (strike) on Monday, April 22, condemning the murder of 23-year-old college student Neha Hiremath in Hubballi.

Esmail Tamatgar, Dharwad-based Anjuman-e-Islam president, said all the businessmen from the Muslim community will observe bandh from 10 am to 3 pm tomorrow to offer their condolence to the departed soul and protest the brutal incident.

A few days before, the daughter of Congress Corporator Niranjan Hiremath was stabbed to death on college premises by the accused named Fayaz, who was her former friend and classmate. The incident has triggered a political row, with BJP terming it a case of 'love jihad', while the Congress party has denied the allegation. Demands for capital punishment for Fayaz, the accused, have led to protests across the state.

Visuals From Hubbal

#WATCH | Karnataka: BJP and Muslim organisations call a state-wide bandh today over the Hubbali murder incident.

Visuals from Hubbali earlier today. pic.twitter.com/uNItdKXbJH

— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2024

Earlier on April 19, Congress Corporator and father of the deceased, Niranjan Hiremath claimed that his daughter met with the unfortunate fate and was killed for turning down the accused's proposal. 

Also Read | Hubballi College Student Murder Ignites Political Conflict in Karnataka Between Congress and BJP.

Speaking to the news agency ANI, Congress Corporator and father of the deceased, Niranjan Hiremath, said, "After my daughter' was returning from college, an unknown person came and stabbed her 7 times, and she died on the spot. The accused has already been arrested. The motive of the murder is that the victim rejected the accused's love proposal."

The last rites of the girl, who was killed on a college campus in Hubbali, were performed by her parents on Friday.
The Congress government in Karnataka is under severe pressure on law and order in the state after the twenty-four-year-old daughter of a Congress corporator was stabbed to death on the college campus in Hubbali.

The accused, Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently. Neha was a first-year MCA student and Fayaz was her former classmate.